Biomedical Laboratory Science

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Showing posts with label Clot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clot. Show all posts

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Standardization And Implementation of Lab Policies Ensure Hemostasis Sample Quality

How many of us remember the tilt-tube method for basic hemostasis testing? Fortunately, today’s instruments have automated most of these manual steps. However, until recently, assuring sample quality in the pre-analytical phase of testing had remained a manual process and had been difficult to implement and standardize.

Several questions must be considered when evaluating the integrity of a hemostasis sample: Is the sample tube under-filled? Is the sample hemolyzed, icteric, or lipemic? If so, do the levels of the interferent impact the testing results? Is there a clot in the sample?

All labs have policies on sample acceptance and rejection. Inappropriate rejection of acceptable samples—requiring redraw—directly impacts patient care, patient satisfaction, and cost. Failing to reject inappropriate samples can lead to the reporting of erroneous results, impacting the quality of patient care and associated cost. Let’s take a look at the most common pre-analytical quality issue culprits.



Friday, September 23, 2016

What Do We Really Need To Know About Platelets And The Laboratory?

What is a platelet? The anatomic definition of a platelet is well established: According to MedicineNet.com, it is “an irregular, disc-shaped element in the blood that assists in blood clotting. During normal blood clotting, the platelets clump together (aggregate). Although platelets are often classed as blood cells, they are actually fragments of large bone marrow cells called megakaryocytes.” This definition, however, does not do justice to our rapidly expanding understanding of the platelet’s roles, functions, and laboratory applications.

What the numbers say
Laboratories with the ability to detect platelet function defects still tend to focus on identifying the two percent of the population that have heritable platelet function defects and von Willebrand Disease.



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